KINGS: L.A. gives Dustin Brown 8-year contract worth $47 million

The Kings made another significant move to solidify their future Thursday, when they announced they agreed with team captain Dustin Brown on an eight-year, $47-million contract extension that would keep him in uniform through the 2021-22 season.

Brown joins goaltender Jonathan Quick, defensemen Drew Doughty and Slava Voynov, and forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards, to form the core of a Kings lineup that is signed through at least the 2018-19 season. Quick is signed through 2022-23.

The 28-year-old Brown led the Kings to a second consecutive trip to the Western Conference finals this past season after guiding them to the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship in 2011-12. He has 388 points (181 goals, 207 assists) in 641 career games, all with the Kings.

"It wasn't only building it, but trying to keep it together and then fit it under the (salary) cap," Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said on a conference call, referring to the task of maintaining a winning club for the long haul. "You're never done. It wasn't just about becoming a good team. It was doing these types of things, so that you could, in the end, build a culture and have an identity."

Said Brown: "We weren't built to win the Cup one year and then disappear. Now, it's kind of all come into place in the sense we're all going to be going through this together."

Brown represented himself, rather than hiring an agent, during his discussions with Lombardi. Brown could remain with the team until he's 38, perhaps making him a King for life. The contract contains a partial no-trade clause, according to Lombardi.

The Kings drafted Brown in the first round of the 2003 draft (13th overall), and he made his NHL debut without the benefit of a single shift in the minor leagues. In fact, the only time he played for the Manchester (N.H.) Monarchs of the American Hockey League was during the 2004-05 lockout.

Brown was named Kings captain Oct. 8, 2008.

"Whenever you can lock up your captain on an eight-year contract, it says a lot about the way we feel about 'Brownie,'" Lombardi said. "You add him to the core of the other top players we now have signed to long-term deals and having your captain under the umbrella is certainly a good feeling.

"He's a classic case of somebody who's grown, not only as a player but as a man every year. When I first got here, it was very difficult to get two words out of him. To see how much he's grown as a person is as incredible as his game. ...

"He has a passionate caring for this franchise."

Brown had 18 goals and 11 assists in 46 games during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. His production slipped noticeably during the playoffs, when the Kings couldn't get past the eventual Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks. He later revealed he had a knee injury.

After the Kings' roster was unchanged last summer following the first Stanley Cup in the franchise's 45-year history, there have been a couple of noteworthy departures during this offseason. Free agents Rob Scuderi and Dustin Penner signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ducks, for instance.

The Kings also added defenseman Robyn Regehr in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline and acquired tough guy Daniel Carcillo from the Blackhawks earlier this week. Regehr made an immediate impact, but it remains to be seen how much Carcillo can contribute.

Lombardi's emphasis has been to keep a championship-caliber team intact.

It's not an easy task with a salary cap structure that often makes it difficult for teams to keep their own players once they're eligible to become unrestricted free agents and can sign with the highest bidder.

"You kind of beat that part of the system, which basically encourages players to move around and not have an attachment to a team," Lombardi said of signing his players to extensions. "That's what the system essentially does. You're trying to, I guess, confront that. When you're able to keep your players locked up and fit them under the cap, that's part of the job."